Orangutans are great apes, as opposed to monkeys, and are closely related to humans, having 97% of DNA in common.
The Orangutan Project funds orangutan rescue teams. Some of the very last populations of Sumatran tigers, elephants and orangutans will continue to roam and breed in safety, just as they had done for thousands of years before land clearing, poaching and fires almost wiped them from our planet.

Logging is an obvious problem for orangutans who spend their lives in trees.

Fires endanger the orangutans and the smoke confuses them leaving them vulnerable to death from loss of habitat (food). Fires are commonly started to clear the land and undergrowth for farming and palm oil plantations.

Palm Oil Plantations are now the leading suppliers for a global market that demands more of the tree’s versatile oil for cooking, cosmetics, and biofuel. But palm oil’s appeal comes with significant costs. Palm oil plantations often replace tropical forests, killing endangered species, uprooting local communities, and contributing to the release of climate-warming gases. The orangutans that are displaced starve to death, are killed by plantation workers as pests, or die in the fires.

Poaching orangutan infants and hunting for meat also threatens the species. Mothers are often killed for their babies, which are then sold on the black market for pets as they are cute. Babies cling to their mothers and suckle their mother’s milk until the age of 6 years. Rescued infants are then rehabilitated by volunteers at orangutan rescue centers.